Forgive Thy enemy, AFTERMATH
by Brythespy
Summary: The entire purpose of this story, is to show a man (in this case, Balto, the wolf-dog) who has lost everything in his life, how the hell does he live on? Then a certain character comes into play, and along with Steele, they help Balto get through this tough time. Balto eventually does get to the point where he smiles and laughs, and maybe, he finds love again. ALTERNATE UNIVERSE.


**Warning: This chapter is going to be nothing but one huge-ass Teaser. :D**

**As you are reading, KEEP THIS IN MIND: This is a completely different universe than "Forgive Thy Enemy". Jenna and Kodi die here, but that doesn't necessarily mean they die off in my other story. Think of this story as branching off, and where it takes a grim turn for the worst. I will not alter the story lines of either stories, so this isn't SPOILERS at all. They might die, they might not die, who knows? The only way to find out is to read Forgive Thy Enemy, which you should have already, or else this story is not going to make sense to you, since it's the history behind this story.**

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Balto, First person.

What does a man do when he's lost everything… What do I do… I can't, no… Won't continue on like this… It's been two weeks since I lost my love, my son, and the only human family that has ever accepted me.

I was nearing the forest edge now, having finally gone out hunting to give Boris a little piece of mind. I didn't catch shit… For I have lost all motivation to do so. Why would I continue feeding this body? Why continue on like this? I suppose I should think back a bit, or do something to get my mind off of such terrible thoughts…

For the past two weeks, Boris has literally kept me alive. I didn't move, I didn't talk, I didn't even care when he gave me his lectures, though I did listen to them. He would never know it, but I could not live without Boris right now, he always was, and now once again, my only family…

Two weeks ago, Nehalem decided to hit me in my only weakness, my family. After brutally killing Rosie and her parents, he sought out to dognap Jenna and use her as bait against me. Sure, she escaped just fine, thanks to Steele, but Nehalem wasn't as stupid as anyone would have thought. He did come back… He took my son, and Jenna that night.

I ignored my tears that fell, they've been creating a steady path through my fur over the past weeks, all of it to help me cope with such a loss.

I remember that night like it just happened, because it always happens… Happens in my dreams _every_ _fucking_ _time_ I closed my eyes and tried to get some kind of rest for my aching body.

Balto, flashback. Last moments…

**COMING SOON.**

Balto, first person.

After that night, I don't exactly know what happened to me… I remember fainting again, and then waking up at my boat with Boris as torn apart as I was. Since that day, I never moved. I never spoke, I didn't even want to wake up ever again.

Such a crappy day, the snow blew in from the south, falling from large, unforgiving storm clouds above. They blocked out the sun completely, and only helped to depress me even more. I couldn't think straight, I knew I had left the forest, and I knew where my boat was, but did I even want to return to it? All that damn boat does is lead me to painful memories, and even with Boris attempting to help me, only lead me to feel more depressed. I loved the goose, but over the past few weeks, I feel like I'm being selfish, completely ignoring him whenever he tried to help me. I thought about if I should just go back to the boat, finally hug him, and finally cry on his shoulder like he wanted me too. It'd really help me relive the grief, but I knew that wasn't going to happen.

That night changed me, permanently. I no longer trusted anyone; I no longer wanted anything to do with others. I became a Lone Wolf, and, although it's unfair for Boris, I figured it was time I left out on my own, away from this god forsaken town, and away from my pathetic life here.

The past two weeks, Boris had literally kept me alive; he's brought me food, water, along with anything that would cheer me up. But I never reacted to it. I went an entire week after that night without eating. I didn't care if it killed me, I didn't care if it worried Boris. Every morning, every hour, every night, he would talk to me, sit there and stroke my back, he would tell stories, sing to me, try his best to comfort me. I felt terrible for leaving him, after he's done so much to help me through a tough time. Ha, "tough time" No man should ever have to live on without his family. He really did see me as his son, and who was I kidding? He's my father, not a goose whom adopted a wolfdog, not this so called "Uncle Boris".

As I thought about this, I stopped in my tracks. I would not just leave the poor goose, and scolded myself for even thinking about running off.

"I can't leave this town; I'll never leave my people." I thought, and man, even my thoughts sounded depressing.

I looked around; I was along the forest edge, about a mile from town, and another half mile from my boat, from Boris. Too many thoughts were going through my mind, and in a state of such depression, I simply fell to the ground and lay there, not caring about anything else. I figured I'd go back to Boris, and finally "let my feelings out" as he'd say. It's been two weeks, but that night… It feels like it was last night, feels like it was _every_ night. I looked to the sky, or whatever I could see beyond the dark overcast. The moon was full and bright, barely peeking through a break in the clouds. I looked around at my surroundings, the dark, deathly forest to my left, and the equally dark town of Nome to my right. It was past midnight, but to me it didn't matter, the moon was calling me, and I knew just how to answer.

I got to my feet, struggling to stand, and took in a deep breath, and pointed my muzzle high in the air. I let out a long, death howl into the cold night air, changing tones from a higher one, to a lower one, before lowering my head. It was full of despair, depressed howl, and since I rarely ever howled in my life, I was going based off of what I knew about wolf culture. A wolf would howl in sorrow, like I did, when they lost a pack member, Family. So it was a perfect reaction to the event, only in normal wolf packs, I'd get a response, and it was often a howl that would be joined by the entire pack, out of respect. I didn't expect a reply, but to my suprise, I got a response, from the North. It was equally sad, but was obviously higher pitch, like it came from a younger wolf, and a female.

"Must be Siku" I thought.

Siku had disappeared the night Kodi was killed, she ran off into the forest, running after two wolves with tears of anger in her eyes. They had run off in fear at the sight of – **BATTLE DETAILS COMING SOON.**

I had not seen her since then, but something told me that she was not yet ready to talk to anyone either, she had answered my howl from about 5 miles away, north into the forest. I lay my head back down on my paws and sighed again. I really wished that this phase of my life would pass, but I knew that wouldn't happen. My brain would keep me prisoner, re-playing the events of that night, reminding me of the huge failure I was.

It's been two hours, and I decided I'd head back now, before Boris started to worry. I figured out what I was going to do, I'd finally talk my feelings out, hoping to somehow clear this ever-lasting storm cloud over my life.

What would I say? How to I talk about this, and it's supposed to make me feel better? I had to tell Boris, had to tell him that I was grateful for his help these past few weeks. I wanted to explain to him, tell him how I felt, but I knew he could never understand, he could not relate, he's never lost his family in one night, and live with the guilt that it could have been prevented…

For the past few weeks I lay there, doing nothing, saying nothing, eating nothing. I felt like I was literally injured, though I walked away from the battle with injuries that have all healed already by now. I felt physically broken, since my mind simply couldn't handle it. I assume that if it was kept bottled up in my head, I would have slipped into some type of coma or something, since grief alone had caused me to pass out a few times over the past few days. The physical pain was worse, I felt like my heart was ripped out, no worse, I felt like my kidneys, Liver, and all other organs were brutally ripped from my dead carcass, like I was being feasted on by some ravenous giant beast. I felt… Like nothing, like my body was empty… Like I was just a shell of a wolf, walking, talking, and living like some kind of demon-controlled puppet.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good way to explain it" I thought as I rose to my feet and began the walk home, but a scent ripped across my nose, I could not turn back without going to investigate, for it was a familiar scent, one that has helped me a lot in the past month…

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**What can I say? I'm trying out tragic writing, since, remember, this is like... My third story I've ever written.**

**The entire purpose of this story, is to show a man (in this case, Balto, the wolf-dog) who has lost everything in his life, how the hell does he live on? Then a certain character comes into play, and along with Steele, they help Balto get through this tough time. Balto eventually does get to the point where he smiles and laughs, and maybe, _he finds love again._**


End file.
